Chasing Freedom
by Siacheckers
Summary: When a judge plays a cruel joke, Taren Rogers gets sent to Camp Green Lake. Too bad the judge gave her just the out she needed. Rated M to be safe, feedback and plot suggestions welcome! I know,I know! Another girl at CGL fic, but give it a chance!
1. Chapter 1

~Hey everyone, I was reading Holes fanfiction from dusk till dawn and I just couldn't help myself. So, bear with me if it's a little slow at first, the story will pick up! 'Taren' in this story is very quiet at first and that's part of her character!~

~Disclaimer: I don't own Holes or any of the characters, lucky too, if I did the whole movie might have ended up being an extended version of the "Dig It" song.

-**Driving through a desert in Texas**-

I'm not entirely sure how I got to this point.

I felt the bus jerk to a stop, and the cuffs around my wrists harshly reacquainted me with their presence.

Yes, feel free to read that again. Cuffs, as in handcuffs, as in, remind-you-your-not-here-for-the-scenery cuffs. They were warm and stark gray around my almost glowingly pale arms. Come to think of it, everything seems to be warm here, warm and dry.

Now I know why those Texan cowboys have such gruff voices, their throats are probably sand paper by the time they step out into the open air.

Anyways, I suppose I shouldn't expect royal treatment at a youth prison camp. You can read that twice too.

The bus driver spits every word he says, and it's hard to make any sense of it. The way he's unlocking the cuffs, however, speaks volumes and I don't say a word as I allow myself to be ushered off the bus into the cowboy-hating humidity.

Camp Green Lake. I wonder if most people think there is actually still a lake. One quick weave through the World Wide Web expels all illusions about this place, but I suppose most don't bother to look.

The federal site had also said something even more interesting, it was an all-_boy_ juvenile facility. I empathize _boy_ for a likely very obvious reason. Because I'm not one.

I'm sure it's illegal, but the judge had this glint in his eye, when he offered this as an alternative to jail, that just assured me he was having the time of his life knowing that I_ didn't_ know what I was getting myself into.

The sound of the bus pulling out behind me pulled me out of my daze.

A tall blond man who seemed to fancy himself a sheriff of some sort was standing in front of me, glaring down. A few months ago, the sight would have turned my face a nice red to go with my deep brown hair, but now I couldn't bring myself to care.

"Taren Rogers?" He ground out, pronouncing Taren, _Tar-ron_. Like a boy's name.

He was expecting a boy.

A boy.

The man spit on the ground in an obvious habit and continued without waiting for a response. "You will address me as Mr. Sir and only Mr. Sir. You got that?" He didn't seem to cheer up much at the nod I gave.

And he still thinks I'm a guy. I now wished I'd gone for something other than the super baggy t-shirt and black jeans, and a baseball cap with my hair tucked into it.

Mr. Sir gets fed up waiting for me to do something, and pushes me toward one of the many tents lining either side of the camp then bursts into a speech about how I can run if I want, but I'll be 'buzzard' food really quick because this is the only water source in a hundred miles and blah, blah, blah.

I don't listen until I get shoved into the tent and are faced with a generic white boy with sandy hair staring bored back at me. Mr. Sir says something that I tune out but as my black duffel bag is searched and two ugly orange outfits are shoved at me, I pick up "one for work, the other for relaxation" and "washed every six days."

Wait…okay, gross.

The world spins out again and I turn my back to change into the orange jumpsuit, I'm small enough that neither one notices anything out of line from that angle.

I'm being pushed out of the tent with boredom in my deep blue eyes and am handed off to a dorky looking man in safari shorts. I assume they exchange words, but I don't listen.

"I'm Mr. Pendanski, your tent counselor. You may have made some bad choices, but that does not make you a bad person. I respect you Taren (Tar-ron). " The goofy-hatted man smiles down at me. The down, being 5'3, I'm used to. The smile, not matter how rehearsed, I wasn't.

"Thank you." I force out, almost grimacing when it came out deep. Now everyone will be all gender confused. Not just….most everyone.

"You'll be in D-tent."

~Please read and review! I'm kind of floundering with this story and would love some advice on events to come!~

~~~~SIA~~~~


	2. Chapter 2

~Disclaimer: I don't own Holes, except of course, that one I dug in the backyard that once, or twice, or fourteen times.

-**Outside D-Tent**-

All the tents here remind me of the crocodile hunter. Poor guy. I miss his stupidity when it came to danger. It made life just that much more diverse.

D-tent seemed to be just a tent full off cots. I guess what you see is truly what you get. Only one boy currently occupied the tent. Mr. P barely spared him a glance.

"Well, Taren, guess we picked a bad time to make a house call, but I'm sure the other boys are around here somewhere. That's Zero. His name pretty much explains him. Let me see if I can go find someone to join your welcome wagon." With that, the camp counselor who I now highly disliked practically skipped out of the tent.

_Really! Who just insults a camper and then skips off! Jerk._ I turn my attention to the little boy on his cot.

He's staring at me with big eyes from under dark curly hair over cocoa colored skin. I readjusted my duffel over my shoulder. "…Do you know where I can set my stuff?" I ask hesitantly.

Zero simply points to a cot that looks new and sort of cramped at the end of a row a few cots away.

_Whatever. I didn't come here to make friends. He can snub me if he wants. _I barely resist the urge to huff as he goes back to staring at the wall.

I glared at the side of Zeros head for a good five minutes before the tent flap burst open and Mr. P herded 3 more guys in.

I forced down a grin. So I admit it, I'm stuck in what may be a sick and slightly twisted fantasy of some girls.

It's not my fault one or two of the boys here were attractive.

The first boy that scrambled in was Mexican with a shave head and a cocky smirk. He was clutching a dirty bandana in his hand that was probably used to ward of the sun. He was attractive in his own way, but seemed a little too….over the top.

Flanking him was black boy who was tall and slightly muscular. I didn't even consider whether I could find him likable at all. He had huge black rimmed glass and a folded bandana around his forehead. The way he carried himself was what put me of. He walked like he was trying to take up as much space as he could, arms swinging freely around him and had a grin plastered to his face that spelled an ego the size of Alabama.

Last, but still in front of Mr. P, strutted in a white boy with dark hair, a nice face, and a great build. Purely observational, of course. He had a toothpick hanging out of his mouth that his lips seemed conditioned to accommodate and a white bandana sticking out from under a tattered hat.

Mr. P was wearing his fake grin again.

"Look who I found for you Taren! " He pointed at the boys in the order they came in. "Jose, Rex, and Alan!"

'Rex' cut in, "Ah, come on Mom! Don't go telling him those whack names." He turned his smirk on me. "Listen here, I'm X-ray, that's Squid," He gestured to the hot white boy, "and that's Magnet." 'X-ray' jerked his hand in the Hispanic boy's direction.

Mr. P, or 'Mom' cut in sharply, "I prefer to call them by the names their parents gave them. Rex, you'll be Taren here's guide." X-ray looked at Mom like he had just pulled on a Madonna costume. "I'm sure you'll all become great friends!" Mr. P turned and left.

_Again with the skipping!_

I was still watching Mr. P skip off when I felt myself being grabbed roughly by the front of my jumpsuit and spun around.

I heard X-ray just a few seconds before my face was pulled to hover about a foot from his.

"Look, kid." The dark skinned boy spat. I caught sight of the other two new boys watching the display like it was a part of the afternoon routine. " I'm a busy guy, you'll find that out, and I don't have time" he gave me a brutal shake for emphasis, "to go around babysittin' your a-"

At some point I had squeezed my eyes shut to try to block the whole disaster out, but I forced them open to see what had made X-ray stop short.

He was just standing there. Staring at me. I try to blow a strand of hair out of my face to see him better.

Wait…hair. My hair was down. I glanced at the ground and saw that my hat had tumbled off when X-ray was making his point. His grip slackened on the front of my orange outfit and I tripped and fell to the ground without his support.

Maybe I'm making an assumption, but I do believe the expression on his face can only be described as 'flabbergasted'.

~Please read and review! I'm kind of floundering with this story and would love some advice on events to come! What should X-ray's and the guy's reactions be?~

~~~~SIA~~~~


	3. Chapter 3

~Disclaimer: Holes does not belong to me. But frankly, how awesome would that be?~

**-Inside D-Tent-**

'X-ray' widens his eyes at me.

I widen my eyes at X-ray.

Are we having fun yet?

The dark skinned boy shakes his head, seeming to let the arrogance flow back into him in an effort to cover his lapse in his 'I'm-so-much-awesome-r-than-you' persona. He waves his arms back at the other two boys, trying to call in reinforcements. "Yo, check this kids hair!" Mr. Awesome forces a laugh. "Whatcha trying to do? Be the n-next..uh.. Marilyn Monroe? Yeah, you some kind of cross-dresser?"

_Dear all those out there that thought 'blood boiling' was just an expression,_

_You're wrong._

So I get sent to an all-boys camp. I can handle that. Then I get put in an all-boys tent. Okay, I'll deal. But when I've been ripped from the life I knew, given a mentor that hates me, basically branded as an outcast in the first minute and a half, _**and **_have my proudest feature insulted, I get a little bit testy.

I barely notice my ankles planting my feet on the ground, hardly feel them propel me up and forward, but I certainly feel my fist connect with the taller teen's atrocious glasses. The resounding crack can only be described by that same sensation of satisfaction.

I only realize the horror of what I just did when the shocked gasps of 'the minions' reach my ears.

When the evil leader squints up at me from where he's landed in the dirt, I realize I have to salvage this somehow.

Finally, I come to the conclusion that, for the first time in my life, the truth may be the only way out of this.

Squid and Magnet try to help X-Ray up, with him simultaneously shaking them off and trying to get up himself. The attractive-_not the time!-_ boy has let the toothpick fall from his lips and seems shell-shocked, while the Hispanic boy seems caught between offended, amused, and just plain astounded. The latter's eyes shoots from X-Ray to me then back again at an alarming rate, as if he thinks his eyes may be playing tricks.

The black leader finds his feet and advances, looking every bit the lion as I feel like the antelope. "Why you little piece of-!"

"Shut up!" I shout, digging myself in even deeper. _What is this courage coming from?_

One of his hands ball into a fist as the other shoots out to grip the front of my jumpsuit again, "Look, if you wanna survive you better learn to keep that mouth shut unless I tell you otherwise!" Dark, rage-filled eyes drill back into mine.

"Well forgive me if I get a little bit _pissed off_ when people mistake my gender you jerk!" I shot out, hoping it doesn't miss the target.

Along with a strange sense of Deja' Vu, I feel that hand on my uniform slacken a second time. I step back, struggling to maintain my feet this round, and watch as all the strange triangle formation of juvie's process the words left hanging in the air.

I'll just describe the phenomenon from left to right then.

Squid-I'll try to leave it at that- is gaping at me as eyes travel up and down my form, trying to figure out how he missed that. His features keep flickering between amusement, disbelief, and shock until he finally let his knees give out to dump him on the cot behind him.

X-Ray doesn't seem to know what to do. His game book has been shredded and discarded along with his pride. His jaw keeps opening and closing soundlessly, seeking the proper response. Finding none, he snaps it shut and glares at the ground, waiting for someone else to make the first move.

Magnet seems to be the only one not freaking out-save Zero, who just can't be bothered to care. The Hispanic bandana-ed teen runs his gaze over the soft lines of my heart shaped face and then nods in understanding. I feel the confusion that should shroud his expression seep into mine. All eyes are on the laid-back male as he steps closer to me and extends his hand.

"Well…" A grin spreads across his tan face, "This may just be the_ best_ mistake in the history of Camp Green Lake."

~Sorry for the short chapter, but it was necessary! Please review! And please, please submits some opinions on where you think the story should go from here. I am so completely lost with it.~

~~~~SIA~~~~


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